DCF office in Leominster may have failed two other children in addition to Jeremiah Oliver

Sunday

Feb 9, 2014 at 6:00 AM

By Paula J. Owen TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

LEOMINSTER — Jeremiah Oliver, who was missing for months before the state noticed, is not the only child the Department of Children and Families' North Central office may have recently failed, according to social workers in that office.

Social Worker Joseph Manna, who works in the DCF's North Central office in Leominster and is also a regional union vice president, alleges two serious sexual abuse reports by mandated reporters were initially not investigated, and those children remained at risk of abuse.

With one of those cases, the 9-year-old girl's pediatrician reported to DCF that in his medical opinion someone was sexually abusing her, Mr. Manna said. Such a weighty report from a medical professional exceeded the threshold for a 51B investigation, Mr. Manna said, and is supposed to be reported to the district attorney's office, but wasn't until weeks later.

The other case involved a 16-year-old boy who was placed in a foster home with one of the lead plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against Gov. Deval L. Patrick, and the heads of the state's Executive Office of Health and Human Services, and DCF.

U.S. District Judge William G. Young, in Boston, ruled on the case Sept. 30, granting the defendants' motion for a ruling without a trial.

The federal lawsuit represented 8,500 children, who after being removed from their family homes because of abuse or neglect, suffered harm or were exposed to harm while in DCF custody.

Seven expert witnesses for the plaintiffs testified in the case, including the Children's Research Center and a psychiatrist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, that there are systemic issues within DCF including: children languishing in DCF care who potentially may have been adopted; a higher incidence of maltreatment of children in foster care than the national average; inconsistent family visits for foster children; the instability of foster home placements because of a shortage of foster homes; caseworkers regularly missing visits with children assigned to them, as in the Oliver case; a lack of access to medical services for foster children; over-prescription and concomitant prescription of psychotropic medications for foster children; and high case loads for social workers.

Children's Rights, one of the foster children's counsel, secured settlements with more than a dozen other states in similar foster care management disputes. Massachusetts was the first to accept the plaintiffs' challenge in court.

Though Judge Young wrote in his ruling that Mr. Patrick and the other state defendants "avoid(ed) the litigation bullet" in the case, just a few months later and after the Jeremiah case became public, the governor is now putting pressure on DCF and has ordered an independent review of the agency.

But social worker Sara A. Vasquez, of the Leominster office, alleges that the failings in two cases she oversaw involving a 16-year-old boy and another involving a 9-year-old girl were more personal because of a poor workplace environment at the Leominster DCF office.

Ms. Vasquez is also a DCF emergency response worker and has worked in the North Central office for six years and previously in DCF's Dorchester office for six years.

"On my caseload, I had two major 51As on sexual abuse filed by mandated reporters — one by the child's pediatrician who stated in his medical opinion sexual abuse had occurred, but it didn't get referred to the DA," Ms. Vasquez said.

"With such a significant statement and evidence of sexual abuse, it is a requirement. Based on that alone, not only should we have investigated, but also supported it. It was screened out and she (Ms. Roddy) refused to investigate.

"I met with her daily and emailed my very specific concerns as an investigator that it should be supported, but she refused to investigate."

After a month of "constant begging," and trying to keep the 9-year-old girl safe, Ms. Vasquez said, her supervisor finally re-filed the 51A and, after an investigation, the report was supported.

"It was supported after all that time, but it was too late — then the child wouldn't talk about it anymore," she said. "I continue to work with the family."

Ms. Vasquez alleges Ms. Roddy was retaliating against her for filing a complaint for bullying on April 15, 2013, with the Commission Against Discrimination in Springfield.

Following a hearing by the commission in October on her complaint, an investigation of the Leominster office is being conducted.

"The management team found out I filed it and I was fired off of the hotline team afterwards," she said. "They scrutinize my travel and every case I handed in."

As far as the second case that she complained about that went without investigation, the North Central office failed to investigate several reports of abuse, she said.

"The other case was also screened out — it was a sexual abuse report for a child in foster care," she said. "I begged them to investigate because it happened in our care and they refused."

Then, finally, a special investigative team for foster parents was called in, she said, the report was supported and the child was removed from the foster home.

"In those two instances it was purely retaliation against me," Ms. Vasquez said. "I was told, 'You can do your own work,' when I wanted them investigated.

"On the Oliver case, that is what the social worker and managers are talking about. There was the ongoing work of trying to meet with the Oliver family, but we kept getting more reports, and they kept telling her (the social worker) to deal with it. It is another way to put it back on us if anything happens.

"It is so frustrating because I still have these cases and still work with these families and the system failed them. DCF is a huge agency with many systemic problems. To this day, no one has talked to me about it. No one did anything. I emailed everybody — The Child Advocate, chief legal counsel — not one time has someone talked to me in DCF. Not even through the top-down investigation. When I tried to email chief legal counsel, I was told not to email her directly."

Mr. Manna said another social worker from the Leominster office also filed a discrimination case a month after Ms. Vasquez against the same management team for bullying.

"Many believe the NCAO is a hostile work environment," he said.

Cayenne Isaksen, a spokeswoman for DCF, said the agency takes all allegations of abuse and neglect seriously. Ms. Isaksen said DCF did eventually screen-in and investigate the allegations of abuse out of the Leominster office and made the appropriate referrals to the DA and local law enforcement, who could have conducted their own investigation and have the authority to file criminal charges.

However, Ms. Isaksen said that unless the alleged child abuse is by a care giver, DCF's hands are tied under state law.

"The department may screen-out a 51A report if the alleged perpetrator of the abuse/neglect is identified, but is not a caretaker of the child," Ms. Isaksen said in an email.

"However, if the reported incident involves serious physical abuse, sexual exploitation, sexual assault, or death, the department must make a referral to both the district attorney and law enforcement, who have the authority to file criminal charges."

Bullying isn't the only problem alleged by social workers in the North Central office, however. Social workers also say they are forced to "strip search" children receiving DCF services.

Some social workers have left because of the policy, Mr. Manna says. The policy was instituted a year ago in the Leominster office by Ms. Roddy.

Since the "viewing bodies" policy was implemented, Mr. Manna and the union have sought a legal opinion on it and he has also gone to labor relations with his concerns.

"The NCAO (North Central Area Office) management has created a policy independent of the department," he said. "The new policy has been referred to as 'viewing bodies.' The viewing bodies policy requires social workers in the NCAO to view children's bodies routinely, without the authority of the 51B (investigation) and without probable cause or evidence. The policy continues despite the DCF Western regional chief legal counsel's decision not to declare the viewing bodies policy as legal."

Another complaint workers have is that Ms. Roddy arranged for one of the managers to supervise his spouse, Mr. Manna said.

In Manager Jacques Carl's disclosure to the State Ethics Commission in October — made 10 months after he began managing his wife — he indicates that he benefited financially from the arrangement.

"I believe this conflict of interest could have corrupted the integrity of the state's investigations of child abuse," Mr. Manna said.

In documents obtained by the Telegram & Gazette, DCF Commissioner Olga I. Roche said that after reviewing the case, she was satisfied that no conflict of interest occurred.

A call placed by the Telegram & Gazette to Mr. Carl seeking comment on the allegation was not returned.

However, Mr. Manna is still concerned with activities surrounding this issue.

"This conflict of interest corruption required many hours and much effort by the department and others in order to establish the corrupt activity, maintain the corrupt activity, retaliate against those that worked to expose the corruption and to cover up the corrupt ethical violations," he said. "Many believe the retaliation included the NCAO management 'screening out' two very serious 51A reports of sexual abuse."

There are far-reaching ramifications for the alleged failings in the Leominster office, as Commissioner Roche passed down mandates in response to the Jeremiah case that are now implemented in DCF offices statewide and are affecting scores of children.

Those mandates include lower thresholds for investigating reports of abuse, which has resulted in even higher caseloads for social workers, DCF officials say.

The caseload crisis makes it impossible for socials workers to see all children assigned to them on a monthly basis as required, they say.

According to trial court records, in January 2013 DCF filed 31 care and protection petitions in Worcester, Milford, Dudley, Leominster and Fitchburg.

A "C&P case" is a court proceeding in which a juvenile court judge decides whether a child has been or is at risk of serious abuse or neglect by a caretaker, and decides whether the guardian is unfit to care for the child and who will have custody of the child. The majority of C&P petitions are filed by DCF.

During January this year, the number of C&Ps filed in Worcester County courts more than doubled over last year. In those courts, 77 C&P petitions were filed, according to court records, that will affect at least that many children, depending on how large the families are.

Social workers say it is unlikely Ms. Roche's new mandates will fix the failures that led to Jeremiah's disappearance unless there is an increase in social workers and foster homes.

In the Leominster office, they say it may take more than that.

In his conclusion, federal Judge Young wrote DCF's issues are more about budgetary shortfalls than "management myopia."

"This is a dispiriting opinion to write. In alleging violations of substantive due process, the plaintiffs set themselves to climb a virtually unscalable peak. They have failed in the ascent. Nothing is really resolved. The state defendants today avoid the litigation bullet, but the state is set for further costly litigation as all attempts at settlement have failed.

"In the process, the court may have done a disservice to the hundreds of overworked, underpaid and under appreciated caseworkers and foster home providers whose dedication has never been questioned here.

"We are all complicit in this financial failure.

"When next you bemoan your tax burden, remember that, at that moment, somewhere in Massachusetts there is a youngster who has just been taken from her parents' home. She is confused, inexpressibly lonely, homesick, and desperately afraid. Because of Massachusetts' penury, her future is murkier than in most places in America.

"Do you care?"

Contact Paula Owen at powen@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @PaulaOwenTG.